The efficient handling of an array of different articles in a warehouse system is especially important when it comes to filling orders and meeting delivery deadlines. It is the usual arrangement in warehouses that many articles of varying sizes and weights are stored in positions for easy delivery to a system of branch conveyors which, in turn, connect up to a conveyor and effectively and rapidly combine the flow of articles into a single conveyor which leads to a loading dock or other location where article pick-up is provided.
The problem is to handle a plurality of lines of articles coming out of a warehouse, where the articles vary in size and weight. This is difficult because of these variations, and a number of conveyors have been developed which will permit the movement of mixed articles into a single file line for delivery onto a single line conveyor. Again, there is a problem of moving articles in the foregoing manner while preventing jamming or choking the inlet to the single file line. A further problem in the art is to provide a conveying surface suitable for supporting the various size and weight mix of articles without the need for providing special carriers. The prior art has, by and large, moved in the direction of utilizing special carriers which must be moved in lateral directions with respect to the line of travel of the articles, and such carriers are usually arranged to slide on a system of rods or tubes, where the sliding movement is developed by fixed cams.
There are a number of different arrangements for moving articles between multiple conveyors and a single conveyor by an intermediate conveying apparatus. These arrangements are sometimes driven so that articles moved by a single conveyor are distributed and delivered to any of a plurality of conveyors, or the article movement may be in the reverse direction. Many of these prior arrangements involve complicated structures embodying switching devices, require special carriers on which the articles are moved, and involve an excessive use of energy to drive the system. Prior examples of such arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Patents to Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 1,931,454 of Oct. 17, 1933; Krupp et al., U. S. Pat. No. 2,897,947 of Aug. 4, 1959; Shuster et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,379 of May 25, 1971; Kennedy, U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,225 of July 31, 1973; Wickam, U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,888 of Oct. 26, 1976; and Maxted, U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,897 of Aug. 30, 1977.
Automatic or semi-automatic warehousing systems include control means for organizing the picking of articles from the various storage bins or holding bays so that quantities of similar articles can be loaded onto conveyors. Several different conveyors are necessarily provided so that articles of one kind can be segregated to a particular conveyor. The system is set up so that all of the conveyors usually run to a station where the flow of articles from the different conveyors can be selectively moved on to a single conveyor. In this manner, like articles can be delivered to a single conveyor in a predetermined order, or articles of different character can be combined on a single conveyor. The single conveyor is then directed to a loading dock or an order picking station for further handling.